Monogram 1/48 N.A. Super Sabre

MONOGRAM 1:48 N.A. F-100D SUPER SABRE

Reviewer: James Garnett (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted: October 2005

Kit Details:

Monogram 1/48 F-100 Super Sabre (#5416)

Aircraft History:

The history of the Hun is well catered for in other reviews on this site, so I will touch on the D version.

Often referred to as the definitive Super Sabre variant, the F-100D was developed purely as a fighter-bomber with more underwing stores capacity and additional fuel housed in a fuselage extension. It was based on the F-100C which had been built as both an air superiority and ground attack aircraft but also had a larger wing and tail surface area and in-flight refuelling capability. A total of 1274 F-100Ds were built with a number of them assigned to countries such as France, China, Turkey and Denmark under the Military Assistance Program.

The F-100 was often also referred to as the "Hun", an abbreviation of its numerical designation. These were used extensively throughout Vietnam and survived to the end of the war when they were relinquished to roles with the Air National Guard with the last one retiring from service in 1979.

The Kit:

Having picked this up at a swap-meet the box was not in the best of condition and some parts were no longer on the sprue. I counted around 80 plastic parts in a typical metallic grey colour, supposedly mimicking natural metal. The parts are of a typical 70's Monogram kit, well moulded, solid and containing a reasonable amount of raised panel line detail while control surfaces, vents and the like are engraved into the surface. There are plenty of mould imperfections such as a few ejector pin stubs and especially sink marks, but nothing we aren't already used to.

On the gimmick side of things the kit provides a number of optional features that includes open canopy, deployed speedbrake, positionable leading edge flaps, two styles of refuelling probes, separate afterburner, port-side exposed gun bay and small plaque for a diorama. There is also a ground crew component of standing crew figure, seated pilot and boarding ladder. On the stores front there are a few options that includes a pair of drop tanks, Bullpup missiles and a pair of Mk.82 bombs.

Instructions:

The instructions are a fold out booklet which features all the information one would come to expect from this company in this scale. A brief history is on the front followed by exploded assembly views and concluding with the colours and markings. Generic information is provided for paint with some FS numbers supplied for the camouflage scheme.

Construction:

I will say at the outset that whilst I followed the instructions, I didn't follow it in order! This is a personal choice, I have always preferred to get the cockpit out of the way. It is where most of us spend an inordinate amount of time and we know once that task is completed, regardless of how much we enjoy it, we know that we are really then into actual kit building. I find it satisfying to put a fully fledged cockpit into the fuselage half and move on to the airframe. The cockpit here is what I think the best term would be "reasonable". You have all the essentials but very little of the options, which includes no throttle. The seat is in three parts and the instrument panel has detail that can be drybrushed out. The unit can then be installed into the upper fuselage half when ready.

The intake trunk is of course very long in the F-100 but not in this kit, so some clever painting is needed inside to give the illusion of extending further into the aircraft than it does. Coming in halves also meant join lines were visible and these needed to be filed away to give the trunk interior an unblemished look. It didn't come out too bad.

Having the exposed gun bay was a bit too much temptation to ignore, and I found that working off the forward fuselage area while it was still on the sprue allowed for some detailing painting to be done without the hassle of masking and so forth later. The detail is not too bad but alas the gun itself is generic and unrealistic, but it still is a talking point nonetheless. Otherwise of course you can close the doors for the gun and ammo bays and testing the fit of these revealed some fit issues that will need to be overcome, probably through sanding around the edges.

Wings are assembled next and with separate leading edge flaps it is not the most straightforward task to complete, especially when there is the added issue of a bit of warping in the box. Some very well placed pegs and clamps aided in this process before the overwing fences were glued on. These proved troublesome to fit as they did not line up flush with the wing surface. At this stage the tailpipe can be installed into the lower fuselage half which was painted and prepared. It's a loose fit and needs some careful positioning but fairly easy to overcome.

Before the fuselage halves can be completely closed together there is the issue of noseweight, so I crammed in some small ball bearings. I then started drilling out the gun troughs as there was no depth in the kit molds. The main wings were sandwiched between the upper and lower halves. There is also the issue of warping to sort out, so some pretty well placed clamps are needed to keep it from prizing apart. It was then time to fill and sand all the join lines smooth but in the process a number of panel lines were lost and these had to be rescribed.

Tailplanes and the vertical fin were put together next and these were straightforward assemblies. There was again a slight problem with part warping but one never knows if this is a fault of the kit or simply years of storage in the closet! The fin did not fit flush on the top of the rear fuselage so the obligatory filler was added to help with the lines.

The detail in the wheel bays has already been added for you so there is little to do other than to really super detail the areas. Likewise the speedbrake recess is moderately detailed enough to not want to add anything further unless you can't help yourself. Fit of the doors in all these areas is a bit so-so but since I had the speedbrake deployed in its static display everything was left open. Of course this is not strictly accurate while static, but hey if the option is there, why not flaunt it!

The gunsight, windscreen and main canopy were then all added to the top of the forward fuselage and exact positioning is not adequately covered by the instructions, particularly when the canopy is open. Again, the expected flush fit against the fuselage surface is not achieved at least without a little bit of buffing and filling. Of course you have to be careful here not to upset the blend of the canopy frame into the airframe.

As previously stated there is a veritable of options for external stores in this kit ranging from Bullpup missiles to drop tanks. The pieces are fairly generic in shape and one would perhaps question to the accuracy of the bombs and drop tanks supplied. I used the parts from the kit but an aftermarket weapons set might be a better choice. The fit of the stores to pylons and pylons to wings was not the best, to achieve a flush fit the need for filler and sanding was again required.

As with the stores the landing gear is pretty straightforward to assemble but overall is fairly generic in appearance. A bit of aftermarket detailing would certainly enhance this part of the project but the kit parts are useable. Again, there were some minor fit issues to overcome but nothing that really needed harping on. The gear doors if closed don't fit as flush as one would like so a bit of trimming and filling will be called for in a wheels-up pose. At the same time the option of a cranked or extended refuelling probe can be added, and again a flush fit needs to be worked on. I dispensed with the idea of using the boarding ladder and crew accessories as they looked too generic for my liking but they are there if you wish.

Once construction was complete, I primed the whole model to flush out any imperfections in the body work, attended to these usually with wet n dry sandpaper to remove all surface blemishes, having to rescribe a few panel lines along the way and then used a combination of bare metal foil and Humbrol metalcote to achieve a distinctive and realistic natural metal finish. The painting was a bit of a chore in some respects but we got there in the end.

Colour Schemes:

A natural metal finished example 55-3604 from 416th FFS, Bien Hoa AFB 1965 was my choice. I never much cared for a camouflaged finished F-100 as it doesn't look right to me. In any event it was only in Vietnam that the camouflaged versions were used. The kit also provides for a camouflaged 55-0598 from Air National Guard.

Decals:

The decal sheet is not very big considering the aircraft it is covering, and provides little if any stencilling. The decals are thick, with a fair bit of excess carrier film and do not have the best clarity. Having experience with Monogram kit decals, they are typical of the era and are best replaced from aftermarket sets. I did use some parts of the decal sheet unique to the aircraft (such as the serial number and badging) and didn't have too many problems with the decals other than they were a bit clunky and prone to curling. The rest of the decals were taken from various aftermarket and spares sources.

Accuracy:

There are some minor detail errors which have been touted about elsewhere with this kit but overall the kit isn't too bad. Between various sub variants of the F-100D there are some air scoops and fairings missing. Otherwise, it comes out fairly close to published measurements from many sources for the F-100D-25 and captures the look of the aircraft very well.

Overall Recommendation:

Unless there are options in resin I am only aware of Monogram and Esci producing a quarter-scale F-100D. The Monogram kit is a solid depiction of this aircraft without being anything special and is from reports better than the Esci kit. Overall construction is quite straightforward, there are some minor fit issues to overcome and on my kit additional challenges with warping. The kit decals are not the best, which is pretty standard for Monogram kits of this era but there are plenty of choices from aftermarket sources. In closing, I have no hesitation in recommending this kit, I feel it could be quite better but given its age and tool mileage, you can't be too picky!

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